Friday, November 1, 2013

Consolidation

Working title: Exactly what I wanted to avoid

The backlog continues. While my vacation was relaxing, I lost sight of some of the things I'd hoped to accomplish, catching up here being one of them. So, with much trepidation, I'm going to compress down three trips, with little commentary, and some pictures. Then do a proper report for my last hike, and hopefully keep up with it this time!

10/15/13: Mt. Eisenhower (only)

Peak: Mt. Eisenhower

Trails: Edmands Path, Crawford Path, Eisenhower Loop

Mileage/time: 7.1 miles, 3054 feet of gain, book time of 5:05, actual time of 4:13

I waffled a lot this day. On my drive to the mountains, I originally was going to hit Eisenhower, drop into the Dry River valley to redline out some trails, then return the way I came. I drove up to the Edmands Path trailhead, thought about doing a loop up Ammonoosuc Ravine and down Edmands... then changed my mind, drove over to Zealand trailhead, and geared up. While in the lot, the waffling continued, I restarted the car and drove back to Edmands Path trailhead. Decision-making is becoming difficult. Whilst I was waffling, another vehicle had arrived in the previously empty lot.

I started up, and soon got into a comfortable rhythm. Edmands Path is a joy, and a credit to its builder, with easy to moderate grades all the way, and superior footing. More than 100 years after it was built, it's still in fine shape. As I rose along with the trail, I ran into the driver of the other car, a guy named Chris. He asked if he could accompany me to the summit, and I said sure. I kept a pace that he could keep up with, and we chatted at length, all the way to the junction with Crawford Path. Here, I took the "scenic route", around the summit cone on Crawford Path, to redline out this final section, and met back up with Chris on the summit. Views were clear to the west and north, with some undercast to the north, and obscured by clouds to the east and south. Nothing like the undercast views everyone and their grandmother had over the past weekend. Chris joined me for the descent, which proved to be fairly quick. In the lot, I congratulated him on his 8th 4000-footer, and then found out that he is a priest! He is only able to get out a few times a year due to this, doing four last year, and four this year. Good on him!

Mileage/time: 13.1 miles, 3799 feet of gain, book time of 8:25, actual time of 2 days

During my Pemi Loop in September, I met up with someone from one of the Facebook hiking groups, and made a new friend. Her name is Zahrra (Arabic for flower, blossom, or beauty... how fitting), and after corresponding at length, she got over being intimidated by me (I can't see why!), and decided to come hiking with me. We decided to hit the Kinsmans, with an overnight at Kinsman Pond Shelter. The government shutdown ended the day before our trip, and we met up in Lincoln before noontime. Some misdirection, leading to me asking a local resident, brought us to the Reel Brook trailhead, where we left my car. Driving around, we geared up, shouldered our packs, and set out for the shelter. The trails were all in good shape, and we saw no one else after we turned off of Cascade Brook Trail, though the upper portion of Kinsman Pond Trail was slick and rough. We made the pond and shelter in just about 4 hours, inclusive of breaks, and settled in for the late afternoon and evening. I packed in wine and a crazy concoction of a meal, and there was much rejoicing. We hung out on the rocks next to the pond for quite a while, the skies clear, the moon rising at our backs, illuminating the bulk of North Kinsman. The Big Dipper was prominent to the north, and we even saw a shooting star. Pretty awesome.

The next morning dawned gray and damp. It had rained during the night, and the cloud deck hung low, the winds blustery. Breakfast was had, things were packed, and we made our way towards the peaks. The rocks were all pretty slick from the rain, and we took our time, topping out on North and South Kinsman, wrapped in clouds, with gusty northwest winds. The section from South Kinsman to Harrington Pond really slowed us up, with steep rock section after steep rock section. Pretty impressive, though I'm not sure which is better, going up or down! Harrington Pond was a sweet little spot, though the trail through here is pretty waterlogged, and we were still in the clouds. Dropping down further, we came alongside Eliza Brook, and countless unnamed cascades and drops, really a beautiful section of trail.

We took a break at Eliza Brook Shelter, and carried on. Reel Brook Trail was nice, passing through attractive woods, and cutting across the power lines, where we had an interesting encounter. A group of people (probably 7 or 8 of them) were standing on the trail in the power line cut, and when we started talking to them, they said they were out talking about Northern Pass, and the impact of it. A few New Hampshire state legislators were there, and we were asked if we'd like to see the current 40 foot wooden towers, or 100 foot tall steel towers. If they have to be there, I said I preferred the current towers.

Continuing on, we soon reached the car, and not a single fall between the two of us! Zahrra said she fell, but all I saw was her trying to re-tie her boot in the middle of a stream. We zoomed around and picked up her car, then had some pizza at Fresolone's in Woodstock before parting ways. Congratulations on numbers 17 and 18! Consequently, her 17th was my 170th (Grid) peak... I can see now why she was intimidated. Thanks for a fantastic trip!

Some pictures:

Panorama of the Osceolas from the Kanc

Can you pick out the Big Dipper?

No views and still smiling

10/24/13: The Hancocks

Peaks: North Hancock, South Hancock

Trails: Hancock Notch Trail, Cedar Brook Trail, Hancock Loop

Mileage/time: 9.8 miles, 2940 feet of gain, book time of 6:21, actual time of ???

Having done the Hancocks back in August, I don't have too much to say about them! I hiked with Zahrra, and her friends Rusty, Amanda, and Alan (I'm pretty sure that was his name!). It was a chilly day, with winter in the air, and somewhat cloudy. We were fairly sheltered until we hit the ridge, and then the wind took hold, and brought the temperatures down. We were harangued by Gray Jays (I say that, but those buggers are cute!) on our ascent and on North Hancock. Summit beers were had at the outlook off North Hancock, and then we sallied forth to South Hancock. I tried to find some different views off of South Hancock, but my bushwhacking proved to be fairly in vain. It started to snow during our summit stay, and we shortly took off down the south end of the loop. The exit went fairly quickly, with it snowing off and on. Thanks you guys for a good day in the woods!

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About Me

A manufacturing worker by night, and a day hiker by... well, day. I began my hiking and peakbagging journey in 2010, thinking 10 miles was a long hike. Fast forward to now, where 10 miles seems short, and 20+ miles isn't out of the question. Hope you enjoy my ramblings.